(OT) Don't call them dumb animals!

I don't know if there trainer is a Kiwi but even the French could use
them.

Woolly Mort
_

Sheep being trained to weed vineyards
by Michelle Locke, Associated Press Writer

Call them mutton mowers. University researchers are training sheep to
clean up vineyard weeds but stay off the grapes.

Enthusiastic and unpicky eaters, sheep are already being used in some
vineyards as a green alternative to tractors. They don't use gasoline
and keep down weeds -- a necessary task to deter pests and keep vines
healthy -- sans herbicides.

Unfortunately, sheep will chew up thousands of dollars worth of grapes
if left to their own devices. That's why University of California,
Davis researcher Morgan Doran and his colleagues are experimenting
with aversion therapy and other techniques to turn sheep into better
field hands.

Sheep ranchers get a new market for their flocks while vineyard
managers get "another tool in the tool box," says Doran. "It's a
win-win."

But just how do you teach sheep?
It's not as tough as you might think, says Doran, who thinks sheep are
unfairly maligned as wooly minded creatures. They may not be the
brightest lights around, but "they're very good at what they do," he
says. What they do is eat -- all day, every day.

"Everything that we're doing is based on their skills at eating
different foods and detecting different flavors and associating
positive or negative effects of those foods with different flavors,"
he says.

Doran's project is based on the recommendations of aversion therapy
techniques developed by an animal behaviorist at Utah State
University.

Sheep that had never tasted grape leaves were brought in and allowed
to stuff themselves on vines. The animals then got a small dose of
lithium chloride, a drug that doesn't produce any outward signs in the
dosed sheep but leaves them feeling queasy, Doran said.

Some sheep got the dose in liquid form, some in capsules and two other
groups of sheep got placebos to serve as a control.
Sheep that were dosed generally left the grapes alone when set loose
in an experimental vineyard at the UC Hopland Research and Extension
Center south of Ukiah, Doran said.

A recent visit to the vineyard showed tangible results: bunches of
fruit hung on the vines weeded by trained sheep. Vines mowed by
untreated sheep were ragged and bare up to the sheep's head height.

Interestingly, it seems sheep may have discriminating palates. The
untrained sheep largely left alone a red grape called aglianico but
appeared to be big fans of chardonnay. Untutored sheep make good
mowers, but they must be deployed carefully.

Some vintners use them in the cold months, when vines are dormant and
there's not much to nibble on. Others have tried miniature breeds that
are too short to do much damage, though such animals are expensive and
in short supply.

Don Watson, owner of Wooly Weeders, a Colorado-based company that also
provides mowing services in the Napa Valley, doesn't think aversion
therapy is necessary.

He says he achieves excellent mowing results by using top-notch
sheepherders and dogs to move the sheep along before they can get to
the vines. He puts sheep into the vineyards only at certain times of
the year, such as when berries are at their most astringent and
unpalatable to the animals. He also employs lambs, which are shorter
and less likely to reach high enough to damage vines.

"It's better to take a more direct route, observe animal behavior and
merely adapt our management to suit that behavior," he says.
Doran says it's good to be skeptical of the aversion technique -- and
any new technology -- but he says trained sheep could be used more
widely and in the spring months when floor vegetation grows rapidly.

He and his colleagues would like to develop an alternative to lithium
chloride, such as naturally occurring tannins. They also hope to look
at what effect sheep may have on the soil and grape quality, not to
mention their fertilizing capabilities.

Sarah Cahn Bennett, co-owner and enologist at Navarro Vineyards in
Mendocino County's Anderson Valley, is interested to see how the
training comes out, although she'd be more comfortable using a natural
agent to produce the aversion.

Navarro doesn't use herbicides or pesticides so weed-removal is done
either by hand or by tractor. The winery also uses sheep, but that
takes a lot of management and can't be used in every setting, says
Bennett.

Perhaps some day sheep may safely graze in a vineyard without putting
the fruit in danger. For now, a hungry flock of sheep can train humans
to stay alert, says Bennett. "You're just going out there daily," she
says. "That's probably the biggest advantage."

source: /www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-07-10-1565610218_x.htm
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